Crate.



J. M. ZWIOKLB.

I CRATE. APPLICATION FILED OUT. 11, 1912.

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J. M. ZWIGKLE.

I CRATE.

APPLICATION FI LB D 0GT.11, 1912. 1,097,502. Patented May 19, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

atbouwq COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 20., WASHINGTON, D4 6.

JOHN M. ZWIGKLE, OF ROANOKE, VIRGINIA.

CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 11, 1912.

Patented May 19, 1914-.

Serial No. 725,296.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J OIIN M. ZWICKLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Roanoke, in the county of Roanoke and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Crates, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to crates and has for an object to provide a crate of the knoclc down type, which can be conveniently arranged in a compact package which will take up but a small amount of space when not in use.

The invention embodies, among other features, a crate in which the various parts can be readily dismembered and placed within a base forming a part of the crate, after which a cover is mounted upon the base and conveniently locked thereto, the crate, when in assembled position, being adapted to afford a convenient receptacle, with portions of the cover of the crate forming a swinging closure which can be conveniently secured in locked position, thus through the medium of a locking bar also securing parts of the crate in relatively rigid position when the crate is placed in condition for use.

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, constituting a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the crate showing the same in assembled position; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view of the crate as shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view of the crate showing the same in knockdown position; Fig. 4t is a perspective view of the crate, showing the same in knockdown position; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line -43 in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on the line 6-6 in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the locking members; and Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 8-8 in Fig. 6.

Referring more particularly to the views, use is made of a base 10, a cover 11, sides 12 and ends 13, the base 10 being constructed to form a shallow receptacle 1 1- and the cover 11 being preferably of a strip-like construction, with side pieces 15 and end pieces 16 of the cover 11 adapted to overlap the sides and ends of the base 10 to support the cover thereon.

The sides 12 and ends 13 each preferably consist of a frame 17 formed of upper and lower side members 18 and uprights 19 having a netting 20 of wire or other suitable material secured thereto. The lower side members 18 of the sides and ends 12, 13 are adapted to repose upon the upper edges of the base 10 and the lower ends of the uprights 19 project downwardly beyond the lower side members 18 of the frames 17 and have pins 21 projecting therefrom and adapted to extend into openings in the inner faces of the sides and ends of the base 10 to support the frames 17 in vertical. position thereof, the upper and lower side members 18 of the frames 17, constituting the sides 18, being adapted to project beyond the uprights 19 thereof and abut against the faces of the ends 12. It will now be seen that when the sides 12 and ends 13 are mounted in the manner mentioned upon the base 10, the same will be held securely in vertical position to receive the cover 11 which is placed over and upon the sides and ends 12, 13 so that openings 22 in the cover will register with openings 23 in the upper side members 18 of the sides 12, thus permitting of passing rods 24 through the sides 12 and cover 1.1 to secure the cover 11 in positimi upon the sides and ends as shown in Fig. 1, the said rods 24L having heads 25 on the rear ends thereof with the front ends of the rods projecting beyond the front face of the cover 11 to receive the ends of a locking bar 26 through openings 27 in the rods.

A closure 28 forming a part of the cover 11 is mounted to swing on the cover and is provided with a slotted hasp 29 through which is extended an eyelet 30 secured to the rigid portion of the cover 11, thus securing the closure 28 in closed position on the cover. It will now be seen by referring to Fig. 1 that the medial portion of the looking bar 26 will lie adjacent the eyelet 30 and the said medial portion of the locking bar is bent in a U-shaped form to form a securing member 81 which passes over the eyelet 30, after which a suitable lock 32 of any preferred type is mounted upon the eyelet 30 and secured in locked position thereon, thus not only locking the closure 28 in closed position on the cover 11 but also locking the rods 24 in position to secure the cover 11 rigidly to the sides 12.

A series of headed pins 33 project from the uprights 19 of the frames 17 forming the sides and ends 12, 13, the said pins being arranged so that when the sides and ends are supported on the base 10, the pins on the uprights of the sides will be spaced a slight distance from the pins on the uprights of the ends and at the corners formed when the sides and ends 12, 13 are mounted upon the base 10 as described heretofore, suitable locking plates 34: provided with key slots 35 being then placed at the points of intersection of the sides and ends 12, 13 with the pins 33 extending through the enlarged portions of the slots in the looking plates, after which the locking plates are pressed downwardly so that the pins 33 will project through the restricted portions of the slots, thus relatively locking the sides and ends 12, 13 respectively, it being understood that the heads of the pins 33 are larger than the restricted portions of the slots so that the locking plates 34, when placed at the intersections of the sides and ends 12, 13, will relatively lock the same and will be prevented from accidental removal after the cover 11 has been placed upon and over the sides and ends 12, 13.

In order to place the crate described in a knockdown position, the locking bar 26 is first removed from connection with the eyelet 30 and then disengaged from the forward projecting ends of the rods 24, after which the rods are removed from the sides 12 and cover 11 so that the cover can be conveniently removed from the sides and ends 12, 13. The locking plates 3% are then removed from engagement with the pins 33, thus permitting of the independent removal of the sides and ends 12, 13 from the base 10, after which the sides and ends 12, 13 and locking plates 3 1 are placed within the receptacle 1 1- formed by the base 10. The cover 11 is now placed upon the base 10 to inclose the sides and ends 12, 13 and the other removable parts of the crate within the base, and the rods 2st are then passed through the openings 22 in the cover 11 and openings 36 in the base 10, the said openings 36 being adapted to register with the openings 22 so that the rods, after being passed through the openings, will lock the cover 11 upon the base 10 with the forward ends of the rods proj ecting beyond the cover to receive the locking bar 26 through the openings 27 in the rods in the same manner that the locking bar is employed to secure the rods when the crate is in assembled position, the securing member 31 of the locking bar being then swung over the eyelet 30 after which the lock 32 is reengaged with the eyelet to lock the looking bar upon the eyelet and also lock the hasp 29 of the closure 28 on the eyelet. It will now be seen that the crate is in knock-- down position with all the parts securely fastened and the sides and ends 12, 13 interposed between the base 10 and cover 11, the rods 24 being arranged to rigidly secure the cover 11 tothe base 10 with the rods retained in locked and rigid position by the locking bar 26 having locking engagement with the eyelet 30 through the medium of the lock 32.

By referring to the views it will be seen that the crate described when in open position provides a convenient receptacle for the reception of various articles and when in knockdown position will take up very little space so that a large number of crates in knockdown position can be readily handled and arranged to take up very little space in a storage room or the like, it being further seen that the crate can be arranged in assembled position in a very short space of time with all parts of the crate securely locked together to prevent the accidental collapsing of the crate, the parts of the crate being so arranged as to form a durable and lasting crate that will stand the heavy wear and tear to which crates are usually subjected.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a crate, the combination with a base, of sides and ends removably supported on the base, a cover on the sides and ends, rods for sliding engagement with the cover and the sides for holding the cover in engagement therewith, said rods being removable to secure the cover and the base together when the sides and ends are disposed within the base, a closure mounted to swing on the cover, and a spring-like locking bar passing through pro jecting ends of the said rods and adapted to cooperate with the closure for holding the closure in locked position relatively to the cover and for securing the rods rigidly relatively to the said cover and sides.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN M. ZWICKLE.

IVitnesses F. A. Hosrnn, E. EDMONSTON, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

